


Take it From the Top

by Blondevient



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Apocalypse, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Dystopia, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Lotor and Lance do not get along, M/M, Team Blue, Team Purple, Team Red, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-10 16:47:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13505667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blondevient/pseuds/Blondevient
Summary: Lance, Keith, Lotor, and the others wake up in three groups- spread across North America. How will they handle themselves when they are put in charge? Who will survive? Will they found out what happened? And who already knows?When they race across North America to find other signs of life, unlikely pairs team up and unlikely enemies are made.--------Flames swirled through the air, lightning struck the oceans, clouds spread over the globe.Earthquakes threw up mountains, tsunamis devastated towns.Plants grew like crazy and animals went rabid.It was the end.And then it was the beginning.-----------





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm taking a quick break from the other story because finals drained me both emotionally and creatively ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> -  
> I'll get back to the other one by the end of the week I swear  
> -  
> I just wanted to have angst

Flames swirled through the air, lightning struck the oceans, clouds spread over the globe.

Earthquakes threw up mountains, tsunamis devastated towns. 

Plants grew like crazy and animals went rabid. 

It was the end. 

And then it was the beginning. 

\--------------------------------------

A tan, sun-kissed boy from Cuba opened his eyes, shielding them from the bright sunlight. Beside him awoke about five others, all dressed in a silver and blue skin tight suits. 

When he looked down at himself, his vision swirled and he could barely sit up. “What’s going on-” He felt himself saying, his head throbbing. The boy could feel a burning sensation travel from his wrists up to his jaw, just under his ears. Paper thin stings cut across his chest and collar bone, causing him to wince. Then he saw the others. 

They glowed. 

One particular person caught his eye. She wasn’t very outstanding, but her long white hair was frizzy, casting halos around her dark, round cheeks; they were graced with glowing pink marks. He could tell she wasn’t more than 17, the way she looked around was a dead give away. Scared. Confused. Missing her home. 

“Hello-” Another voice interrupted the boy as he admired the darker girl. “What are we doing here?” This voice was deep, but childish. When the tan boy turned, he met the gaze of a bigger teenager, probably around his age. “Where are we?” The boy, much more muscular than he himself was, had panic edging into his voice. 

“I don’t know.” The Cuban boy could feel grass beneath his fingertips the moist feeling of mud. “Who are you?” He forced himself up, heading over to the buffer boy as the others oriented themselves. He would get them together in a second. 

“My name-” The darker-skinned boy was hesitant, but he realized telling this stranger his name was probably the least of his worries at this point. “It’s Hunk.” The teen nodded, casting a worried, but reassuring smile to the Cuban. 

“Hunk…” The lighter boy said, as if it was familiar. “Well, alright, Hunk. I’m Lance.” Lance grinned, holding a friendly hand out for Hunk to take. “Let’s go figure this out.”

He didn’t let the worry he felt spreading like wildfire in his gut show, he had to be strong. 

X X X 

By the time Lance and Hunk made their way over to the others, three of them were standing. They introduced themselves as Shiro, Rolo, and Narti. After exchanging a few words, they figured none of them knew what was happening. None of them remembered anything except their names. 

Bored with the conversation, obvious it was going nowhere, Lance trudged over to the dark-skinned girl with white hair who was still sitting on the ground. 

“Hi…” Lance said softly, not wanting to scare her. It was apparent she was freaked out. “My name is Lance. Who are you?” He held a hand out for the girl, not wanting to appear dangerous. “We’re going to figure this out.” Lance hoped his smile was kind enough, not showing the grimace of distress he wanted to give. 

“Allura. Princess of Altea.” The girl spoke after a moment, her accent rich and a little odd. Lance had never heard that kind of accent before. 

“Allura.” He repeated. “Nice name!” Lance’s warm smile had caused Allura to relax and take his hand. She stood, brushing off her back and hands as she listened to Lance speak. “Princess of Altea, huh?” Lance’s voice was smooth and strong. Everyone began to move in towards them, looking at him expectantly. 

Lance turned around. “Whoa, what’s up guys?” He laughed, then looked around warily again. “So… we need to figure out what’s happening.” The Cuban said, his voice set with determination. “We should split off into two groups, Narti, Shiro, and Rolo should go off towards the wate-” Lance trailed off, staring to his left. 

There was no water that they could see. But he knew there was water. How did he know there was water?

“Lance?” Shiro’s deep voice cut in, looking at him, concerned. 

“Ah-” Lance shook his head, “My bad. You three head off for those woods.” The tan boy pointed left. “See if you can find anyone else, or a place for shelter. Anything of resource.” Lance could tell Shiro, as stoic as he was, must be good in control. “Shiro’s in charge of that group. Do what you think is best, we don’t know what’s out there.”

“Okay, Lance.” Shiro stood at attention. It made Lance almost uncomfortable, being treated with such respect.  
“Allura, Hunk, and I will head that way.” He jerked his thumb behind them, wanting to head where he almost accidentally told Shiro to go just minutes ago. To the water. “Let’s go.” Lance turned heel, walking off down the hill. 

X X X 

Allura and Hunk conversed as the two of them trailed a few steps behind Lance. The blue-eyed teen was hiking fairly quickly, something urging him forwards. Something stirred in his gut, something wasn’t right.

Not like a lot of stuff already wasn’t right, he had just woken up in the middle of nowhere with strangers and no memories. 

But this was something deeper, something he remembered was wrong. 

Then they broke through the small lining of trees and Lance stopped on a dime.

Water.

A river carved its way through the landscape, and Lance could see mosquitoes swarming around the surface. Reeds and shrubs lined the banks, and the water slowly streamed along. It was wide enough for Lance to make out the other side, but not with much detail. 

Allura and Hunk bumped into Lance, causing him to skid forwards on the pebbles that lined the river.

“What gives?” Lance snorted, turning around, snapping out of his trance. 

“I’m so sorry-” Hunk started before Allura interrupted.

“I do believe he is not angry.” Her voice was soft, and her accent made Lance’s knees weak. It was so… calming. Hunk blushed, looking down, muttering a small apology. 

“It’s alright, really.” Lance smiled at Hunk, then mouthed a thanks to Allura. “But… this river! That’s awesome! If we can figure out how to build a boat, we could get the others and sail upstream! Towards inland!” Lance pointed to his right, the opposite direction of the water flow. 

“How do you know that it’s inland?” Allura asked, staring at Lance in confusion. 

“Because water flows downhill.” The Cuban nodded to Allura. “Alright! Well we have a food source, a water source… and…” Lance scanned the area. “A shelter!” He perked up at the sight of a large tree with large, reaching branches. “We can set up in those branches! Anything on the ground won't be able to reach us!” He glanced at Hunk and Allura for confirmation.  
Both of them were staring at Lance with wide eyes. “You’re awesome, Lance!” He smiled, stepping forwards and placing a hand on the slightly shorter boys shoulder. 

Hunk had wanted to clear from the beginning that someone else was in charge, and for him, Lance was perfect. Calm, cool, collected. Smart, for sure. Hunk felt safe with Lance, and Allura did too. They had talked about it as Lance walked ahead, much more athletic than either Hunk or Allura. 

Lance’s eyes widened and his cheeks grew a light shade of red. “N-Not really-” He rubbed the back of his neck modestly. “I just want to stay safe-” Lance tried to sound a little selfish, wanting to seem independent and aloof. Allura rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at his tone.Hunk just smiled.

“Alright.” He turned, “We should go tell the others before it get dark. We don’t want to get split up for too long.” The Samoan boy shrugged his shoulders, feeling a little uncomfortable in the tight suit. “We should find some more clothes, too.” He noted to himself, walking off in the direction they had come. 

X X X 

By the time the three of them returned to where they had woken up, the sun was setting. The red light glinted off of the silver suits of Shiro, Rolo, and Narti who had already returned. 

“Hey guys!” Hunk said cheerfully, waving to them. “How’d it go?”

Shiro looked up, his eyes dark. “Lance… could I speak to you in private?” The Asian man kept his voice low, casting glances at Rolo and Narti, both with the same emotionless expression. 

“Sure, what’s up?” Lance asked, “Bad news? You go first. We’ve got some good stuff.” He rubbed his hands together and walked a few yards off with Shiro.

“Lance.” Shiro said, “We found people.”

“People? How is that bad news? Cheer up, gloomy.” Lance poked the corners of Shiro's mouth up. 

The bigger man stepped back, frowning. “No. They… they attacked us. Rolo got some bruises on his back from the rocks they threw at us. One cut Narti’s cheek. We barely got away without being followed. They’re dangerous, Lance. Like… Really dangerous. We have to move the group away from here.”

Lance listened to Shiro’s story with a poker face, contemplating the situation. His goofy personality had melted away, replaced with an emotionless, serious one. Then he finally spoke.  
“Hunk, Allura, and I found a river. There was a place we could stake out about 3 miles from here.” He began. “Up in a tree next to the river. The leaves would hide us from them if they even went that far.” Lance was mapping a plan out in his head. “During the day we can begin building a boat to go up river. We have Narti be the lookout while she heals. Hunk, you, and I can get supplies while Allura and Rolo build. We can be up and out of here in 3 days flat.”

Shiro nodded, “yessir.” He had stood straight while Lance talked, relaxing after giving confirmation. “We’ll begin to head out now.” Shiro paused, “And Lance?”

“Yeah?” Lance asked, still unnerved by Shiro’s military personality.

“Thank you.” Shiro managed an uncharacteristic grin. “You’re a great leader.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

A Korean man was standing amongst the bodies around him. They had begun to stir, but not wake. 

“What happened?…” He thought, his voice rasping in his head. 

They were in a city, ivy growing up the walls, rubble filling the streets. 

Day was breaking, but there wasn’t enough light to see the faces of the people next to him. He could tell there were about five, maybe one or two of them were girls (skin tight suits were a little too revealing for his taste). When one of the girls rose, the asian teenager jumped.

She was bigger, definitely worked out- he could see muscles defined even though the silver and red suit (Keith noticed later that they were all wearing one). Easily a foot and a half taller than him, the pale man was intimidated. “My name is Keith.” He said, his voice low and rough. 

“Zethrid.” Her voice was unsurprisingly deep, and Keith nodded at her. 

“Nice to meet you.” Keith said, stepping over the pebbles and rocks that divided them to shake her hand. It was a firm; she had a strong grip. 

The two of them turned to the sound of violent hacking. 

A boy, about eight years old, was sitting up and doubling over. He took deep, panicked breaths as he coughed. Keith ran over, placing a hand on the boys back. “You’re okay.” He said reassuringly, feeling the child's body wrack beneath his hand.  
“Thanks…” The boy breathed, looking up at Keith. “W-Who are you?” There was still some cough in his throat so he sounded a little gargled and breathless. 

“Keith.” The teenager said, nodding to the boy. “What about you?”

“Rover.” He said, brushing his hair out of his eyes. 

Keith gasped inwardly, looking at the bright green neon that was inlaid with his skin, glowing stripes into his forehead and cheekbones. Feeling his own cheeks, Keith frowned; there was nothing on his face. But when Rover’s eyes trailed down to his neck, Keith knew there was something glowing there. 

“Um-” He began.

“Red.” Rover nodded, guessing Keith's question. “Me?” The small hands trailed to the green marks on his cheeks. 

“Green.” Keith smiled a little, taking a liking to this boy.

X X X

They had all risen, and Keith walked around making sure everyone was okay. 

“I’m Keith.” He announced loudly, standing up on the hood of a destroyed car so he was a little taller. “I’m sure we all have no idea why we’re here.” As he spoke, he noticed a shorter, middle aged man stay quiet; he wasn’t joining in on the soft chatter of the others. “We should look around the city, see if there is anyone else here.” He nodded. “Stay together. We shouldn’t split up and end up getting one of us lost. We don’t know if everyone here is especially nice.”

That’s when the short guy snorted. “We don’t know anything about this timeline.”

Keith was taken back by the man's accent. It was foreign to say the least. “Um… What’s your name?” Keith asked awkwardly, tilting his head to look a little less threatening. 

“Slav.” The man reached up, adjusting his suit. It did not flatter him in the slightest. It seemed a little too tight around the neck, and stuck very close to the man's thighs. Keith made a mental note to find them some new clothes ASAP. “Nice to meet you-” Slav interrupted Keith’s thoughts with a guarded look, as if he knew what Keith was talking about. 

“Nice to meet you.” Keith nodded, moving his eyes on to the others in his group. Rover, Slav, and Zethrid were standing in front of two others. One was a shorter person, the other was a tall ginger man with a very prominent mustache. 

“Coran.” The ginger said, bowing flamboyantly. “Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe.” The smile on the man’s face caused Keith to let out a small snort of laughter. Coran was quite the character, even for him. The smaller of the pair adjusted their glasses. 

“Pidge.” A flat yet smooth voice spoke, drawing Keith’s eyes to them. 

“Excuse me?” 

“Pidge.” They repeated, looking at Keith with a judgmental stare. “I just want to get done with this and out of here, so stop staring at me.” They huffed, crossing their arms. Their short responses caused Rover to giggle at the dumbfounded look on Keith’s face. Pidge was obviously in a hurry. 

“Nice to meet you.” Keith said, his look of surprise already gone. “I suppose we should head out now.” Keith naturally took charge, not really questioning if anyone else wanted to lead the mission. He figured that he was the best choice to get things figured out as fast as possible. While he was pretty confident in his skills, anxiety still gnawed at his gut. What if none of them wanted him there? But Keith shook it off, telling himself they would have said something by now if his leading bothered them.

They set off down the street, the sun already rising high in the sky on their left. 

X X X 

Rover wheezed, looking up. “Slow down, you guys!” The boy called, having fallen significantly behind. 

Keith looked back, about to head over until he saw Pidge out of the corner of his eye. They had made their way over the rubble to Rover. A small smile graced Keith’s face when he saw Rover crawl onto Pidge’s back. Pidge was not much bigger than Rover, but had no problem catching back up to the group. 

 

“Let’s go.” They droned, casting Keith a look that said _say something. I dare you._

“Head out!” Keith turned his head from Pidge, still smiling to himself. 

Their small group walked until the sun began to go down and they were out of the city. At one point, Zethrid carried Rover while Pidge rested and Rover slept. 

Just at sunset, Keith declared they had walked far enough and they should set up camp. “I’ll go look for a cave.” He said, looking around. “Or an abandoned house.” He realized the latter was more practical. 

“We’ll start a fire.” Coran said, “And maybe get some water. Some of us need it.” He turned his head a little in the direction of Slav, who had plopped himself down on a log and was stretching the neck of the suit out to get air flow to his body.

“Good idea. Take Pidge with you. They’re light on their feet; they’ll see if anything is around you two.” Keith ordered, then paused. “Stay safe.” His voice was soft, looking back at Coran one last time before he ran off to find somewhere they could hole up. 

X X X 

When Keith returned, there was a fire glowing dimly and Slav was telling stories of other worlds. 

“I found a house.” Keith said, voice airy from exhaustion. It had only been about an hour, but he had ran the whole time. The house was about a mile away, and he had spent time scouting it out and setting up so they could just get there and go to sleep. “Follow me.”

Pidge and Coran rose, Rover beside them. Zethrid doused the fire and Slav joined Keith. 

“I believe there is a four percent chance something attacks us in this time line-” He sounded worried, but Keith rolled his eyes and scoffed. 

“Okay, I’ll take my chances.” Keith glanced at Slav. When the group joined up together, they head off. Half an hour later they were in the house, door locked and lights off. 

“Goodnight.” Pidge said, leaning in to the room Keith was staying in with Rover, Coran, and Slav. Pidge had voted to stay with Zethrid, saying the large female made them feel the safest. Zethrid had just grumbled and walked off to the adjacent room. “She says goodnight.” Pidge translated, a small grin glancing off their face. 

A small laugh. “Goodnight Pidge, Zethrid.” Keith nodded after them, and turned back to the window he was staring out of. A small chorus of goodnights from the other males ensued.

Keith sighed, staring out the glass at the land around them. There were a few other buildings, and in the distance, Keith saw something glint. The moon was reflecting off of something... Keith started up. It was a river. How they had missed it earlier, the Korean teen would never know. About a mile away, the large river shone a path through the dead grassy plains. 

Right now, they sleep. Tomorrow, the river. After that? 

Keith just hoped they lived long enough to find out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith growled again and stood up, helping the lanky man to his feet. “Who are you-” He surveyed the person in front of him.  
> \--  
> A large grin spread across his face, his blue eyes shining. 
> 
> “My name is Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lotor and the others will be in chapter 3!

“How’s it goin’, Team?” Lance leaned back, wiping sweat from his forehead as he waited for a response. 

“Goin’ good, Cap’n.” Hunk grinned up at his new friend from the ground. 

Lance was perched up in a low branch in a tree, taking watch as Narti slept. The burning heat of summer was causing a few problems. The first being they all got exhausted very quickly. It was peaking 100 degrees during the day, settling to 80 at night. 

Lance himself could admit to stripping off the skin-tight suit and skinny dipping in the river a few times. (He always went about a mile downstream when he did.) So when the sun was burning down on the Cubans back, he peeled the suit back a bit and tied it around his waist, revealing his toned muscles and warm brown skin. 

Hunk turned off, waving to Allura who was pulling a very large branch after her. They exchanged a few words before Allura nodded, handing the branch (more like a tree, Lance thought) off to Hunk and heading back out with Shiro to find more wood for the boat. 

Lance couldn’t help but admire Allura for her strength, dignity, and attitude. Though he wanted to reach out, take the darker-skinned girl to the side and talk to her, something told him he shouldn’t do that now. Maybe not ever. She was a piece of artwork. A strong, amazing piece of artwork that could probably kick his ass if she wanted, and Lance admired that. 

“Wanna go for a swim?” Lance asked, turning to Hunk quickly before he got too distracted. “I’m sure they won’t miss us for a little while.” He smiled at the bigger male, brushing his hair back. “Sound like a plan?”

“I mean… A little while won’t hurt.” Hunk admitted, smiling sheepishly at Lance. Together, they head off down the river, Lance passing watch off to Rolo. He told the others they were going to scout out downriver for any food. All of them were starving. 

“We’ll be back in an hour! If not, send a team to go look for us.” Hunk called, worry boiling in the pit of his stomach. Something felt wrong. Something felt too calm. But after a mile hike to the swimming spot out of view, the sun causing him to sweat everywhere underneath the suit, and his racing mind, Hunk was too exhausted to care. 

Sinking into the cold, river water made Hunk feel relaxed. “Man, this is so good.” Hunk let just his nose and eyes bob above the surface. “It’s so cool.” He popped up to speak and sunk back down moments later.  


“I know, right?” Lance grinned, standing on the bottom above the river. Hunk could see a heavy tan-line on himself from where the suit covered him. But Lance, Lance seemed a lot more evenly tanned.

“Man, how are you not displaying this Oreo skin?” Hunk joked, holding up a wrist to show the contrast of his own skin.

“I may or may not sneak out to cool off… sometimes.” Lance admitted, giving Hunk a guilty look. “Don’t tell anyone, I only do it because it helps me release stress.” The Cuban waved his hands in panic. 

A loud laugh bubbled up from Hunks chest. “That’s okay, we’re all big kids; we can take care of ourselves. Everyone needs a break. Especially you, Mr. President.” Hunk grinned at Lance. 

Lance blushed, “I’m not the president… We’re just a community.” He splashed a little bit of water towards Hunk, wanting to help distract the taller male from his own obvious embarrassment. “And besides, I’m far from qualified.” He mumbled. “Why not Shiro? He’s… He’s obviously trained! I mean look at the man! He’s got the muscles, the experience, the edgy scars!” Lance placed a finger over his nose to mock the scar. “He’s got all the qualities!” A small huff blew out of Lance as he continued to rant, “Or Allura!” The lean boy threw his hands up. “Intelligent, strong, sure of herself… And being gorgeous is only a plus!” He let his hands lower into the water and he sunk down to his shoulders, the burst dying out. “Or you…or Narti… or Rolo…”

Hunk frowned, looking at his friend. “Lance.” He said, his voice low and strong. “You’re a great leader. Sensible, tactful, and smart!” The Samoan smiled softly at him. “You don’t need to be super strong to be a good leader, I think it’s more important that you trust your instincts the most of all of us. Without your decision making, we would probably be dead or trying to fend off those rogues!” 

Hunks words made Lance feel prideful and accepted. Then something felt like it grabbed his stomach and twisted it. Before he could double over in pain, the river around them began to slow down and lift slightly. It felt lighter, and Lance could feel the water lift him off the bottom of the river, bubbles coming up around them, the water getting hotter. 

Hunk let out a little shriek. “What the heck?” He reached out for something to grab onto, but the water just lifted them up about 3 feet and gently set them down again, like a giant wave at a wave pool. A burning hot, blistering wave pool. 

When Lance’s feet touched the bottom again, the grip on his stomach faded, leaving a ghost-like feeling in his gut. “Um-” Lance was about to say something, but when he saw how freaked out Hunk was, he figured that telling the boy that he thinks a ghost reached in and ripped his stomach into the spirit world was overall a bad idea. 

“Lance-” Hunk began, his look of fear changing to confusion before they heard a shrill screech over the horizon. 

A War cry. 

They had left the team at the base, undefended. 

X X X

After a frantic scramble from the river, Hunk and Lance were sprinting the mile back to camp. 

Lance let out a breath of horror. On the ground lay Narti and Shiro. He could hear Rolo’s breathing, quick and ragged from up in the tree. 

“Lance-” Rolo clambered down, shaken up. “Lance I didn’t see them coming.” Rolo was bleeding, a gash accompanied by a bruise gracing his eyebrow. The blood was trickling down his cheek, into the corner of his mouth. “It’s all my fault-”

Lance threw up a hand to stop Rolo. “No. It’s not. Hunk and I should have been here to help. Where’s Allura-” He trailed off, realizing the count of them was off. Then a groan of Shiro interrupted them.

The man had sat up, holding a hand to his head. “Lance?” He called, “Over here. Narti!” His voice was the most panicked the Cuban had ever heard it. “She got attacked first-” Shiro's breaths were quick as he rolled Narti on her back.

Everyone stopped. 

Blood was trickling down Narti’s skin, slicking her hair back and causing her usually pale skin to be a bright red. 

Lance’s gaze traveled over Narti. Her hands were limp, the collar of her suit was ripped, her mouth was open in attempts to keep breathing in her state of shock, and her eyes… weren’t there. 

“Narti-” Lance said softly, getting over his own shock. “I’m going to take you to the raft. We’re going to get you comfortable, and we’re going to leave.” He stood up. “Pack everything. We’re leaving.” His voice rang through the clearing, hoping any of the rogues here would speak English and leave them alone. 

“Shiro. Take Narti. Hunk and Rolo, pack everything and make sure the raft is good enough to run upriver.” Lance took a deep breath, “I’m going to get Allura, which way did she head off to?” Lance asked Shiro, giving a guarded look to Shiro.  
“I left her with all the wood when we heard the scream… She should be that way-” Shiro pointed straight out, perpendicular from the river. “Lance… That’s the direction the rogues headed. I didn’t think about it at the time-” He bit his cheek. “I didn’t want her getting hurt.”

“It’s okay, Shiro.” Lance reassured him. “Just make sure Narti is okay. Rinse around her eyes with some cloth from one of your suits, I’ll be back in 20 minutes max.” 

With that, the lanky boy took off into the woods. Sweat mixed with tears of stress as he looked for Allura. 

X X X

He found Allura in a clearing, wheezing angrily, holding a large stick. There was some blood on the stick, and some splattered on Allura’s face. 

“Holy shit- Allura!” Lance called, heading forwards towards her. “Allura we’re getting out of here. The raft is ready.”

Allura swung the branch in his direction defensively. “Oh, it’s you.” She sighed in relief. “I thought you were another one of those rogues. Two of them attacked me.” The teen complained, dropping the stick down. “I’m fine, obviously. No thanks to Shiro!” She seethed, storming up to Lance with frizzy hair. 

“Allura, I know you’re mad, but Narti and Rolo got hurt. We have to leave. Now.” Lance stepped back towards their camp, waving for her. “Take it up with him later, okay?”

“Wait-” Allura calmed down immediately, the shift from anger to concern was drastic. “Narti and Rolo, are they okay?”

“...Rolo is.” Lance said vaguely, then turned and ran back through the woods.

X X X 

Less than an hour later they were set sail, about three miles upstream. Hunk was sitting in the back, manning the paddle they had going. Every 30 minutes they switched who ran the paddle and who watched Narti. 

Lance was currently in charge of the ailing woman. They needed to wash out her eyes with clean water, but they didn’t have any. It hadn’t rained recently, and Lance knew the river water would cause infection if it got into such a new and big wound. 

“Hold in there, Narti.” Lance breathed, wiping the blood that had dried to cheeks away. “You’ll be just fine.” His words were soft and sure. Lance knew how to comfort people, that’s for sure. Narti relaxed the most whenever he was watching her, and she was sometimes able to get a few minutes of sleep with him next to her on the boat. 

At one point Hunk caught Lance singing a song to her softly, but he didn’t recognize the language he was using. 

No one said anything else the whole ride, other than Hunk making an occasional call for shift switch. 

X X X 

Two days.They were on the river for _two days._

Lance felt perfectly fine and at home on the river, but the other were getting agitated. He could feel the tension between the others, everyone stuck on the same tiny boat together. 

It was dark, but Lance could see a silhouette in the distance. There was a small town along the river, only revealed because it partially blocked the moon. 

“Let’s stop.” Lance said, a collective sigh of relief was his response. 

“Oh thank God.” Hunk breathed comically, earning a snicker from Rolo. The two of them had some tension, their personalities kind of clashing since the beginning. Two days on a 5 foot by 5 foot raft didn’t help.

Lance docked the boat as Rolo and Hunk sent each other small glares. But both practically fell to the ground praying as soon as the raft stopped, kissing the ground like it was their soulmate. “I will never leave you again.” Hunk promised his one and only love, the dirt.

“Come on, buddy.” Lance placed a hand on Hunks back, “We should head in for the night. I’m going to go set up some traps for food.” He announced over his shoulder. “We can catch some nocturnal animals by morning.” 

“We’ll take Narti into town and lay her down.” Shiro said, nodding at Lance. “We’ll set a sign for you to find us when you get back.” 

They walked into town, and parted ways.

Lance head off for a convenience store, trying to find some rope. After collecting some, he looked remorsefully at the empty check out counter. Dust lined the white linoleum, and the dead screens of the cash registers unsettled him. The Cuban did not spend much more time in there. 

Setting out to the West, Lance stumbled into a dense forest. Mosquitoes buzzed around his head, fireflies faded in and out in the woods around him, and his thin boots sunk into the warm mud forest floor. The squelching that came from the ground gave Lance some solace in the eerily quiet woods. 

By the time Lance had gotten the trap set up around a lone pear tree and returned to the others, he estimated it was around 3 am. There was a very faint line of sunlight over the horizon. 

Everyone was asleep, except Narti. She was on a raised cot near a window, blankets draped over her. 

“Hey…” Lance began softly, not wanting to startle the wounded woman. “Narti, how you feelin’?” He kept his voice a whisper, sitting on the edge of the cot. 

She gave no reply, turning her head. Narti hadn’t spoke since the accident. 

“We need to get you washed up…” He muttered, “Clean out your wounds with clean water.” Lance rose to his feet, heading towards the bathroom. He tried all the sinks in the house, but water wasn’t running. The world was at a standstill. He didn’t even know if there were other people out there.

Lance was now standing outside, having decided to try other houses. But the sickening tug in his gut at the anxiety of them being the last people on the planet was crippling. A soft groan slipped through his lips as he doubled over once more, his eyes squeezing shut. The strong feeling of anxiety morphed into a pain like he had felt earlier in the river with Hunk. The caramel-skinned boy heard a soft swish of leaves moving, but the pain distracted him from looking. However, curiosity won over when he felt something wet brush his cheek. He opened his eyes and jumped back.

In front of him was a sheet of water, drops suspended as if rain had been frozen in time. The small gasp of surprise that was torn from his throat changed into one of awe. “Whoa…” His voice caused the drops to vibrate in the air, and collect together, forming one larger ball in front of Lance’s face.

Clean rain water; it was just what he needed to clean up Narti. Of course, this whole experience was freaking him out, just a little. But the drive to help his friend forced him to reach out gently, unsure what would happen when he touched the ball. To his surprise, the ball held form and he was able to carry it in his hands.

Lance carried the water up next to Narti’s bed. He took an older looking blanket, using it as a rag, and picked small balls of water from the larger one. After an hour or so, Narti was all cleaned up. Her eyes were there, but milky and catacraced. Scars traveled vertically over both eyes, leaving her sightless.  
“ _Thank you…”_ Lance swore he heard Narti say, despite her mouth not moving. 

“You’re welcome.” The Cuban smiled warmly even though he knew she wouldn’t see it. “Try to get some rest, Narti. I’ll be right here until I have to check traps early tomorrow.” He promised, knowing Narti wouldn’t know it was almost morning by now. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

“Rover?” Coran called, looking around for the youngest. “Where are you, my boy?” A smile graced the mans face, causing his mustache to curve up. “I know you’re here somewhere.” The orange-haired man sang. 

While Coran played hide and seek with Rover, Pidge, and Slav, Zethrid and Keith sat down to discuss their next move. 

“I think we should take the river upstream.” Keith said, pointing at their crudely made model of the area using pinecones, reeds, and sticks.

Zethrid shook her head. “Downstream would be our best bet. We just came from upstream-” A rock hit Keith in the face and interrupted her speech. 

“Watch it!” Keith called, feeling annoyance bubble in his stomach about his careless group. Turning back to Zethrid, he sighed. “I guess that makes sense. The city seems the safest though because we’ve been there and know that there will be lots of supplies.”

“I vote down.” Zethrid was adamant. “There could be more people downstream! We already know whats up there, and we could always find more supplies downstream. I’m betting there's an abandoned shop somewhere.”

As the two argued, Keith sticking strictly to going upstream and Zethrid in the opposite direction, the rest of the team’s game of hide and seek was getting out of control. 

Loud screams from Pidge and Rover echoed throughout the house, grating against Keith’s ears. The Korean teen began to twitch, the sounds digging deeper and deeper into him, and the anger in his stomach threatened to boil over. After one particular door slam, Keith’s ears rang and Zethrid’s voice faded into the static fuzz that filled his head. The sickening boil in the stomach turned icey cold and Keith lost it. 

A loud shout came from his mouth and the boy quite literally lit on fire. The tips of his fingers sparked flames and the ends of his mullet flickered with hot, bright flame. “Enough!” He yelled, pushing through the door, stumbling in upon the pile of people fighting in the room over. “Can y’all be quiet for _one minute?_ ” The soft, seethe of his voice unsettled the five other people of his team. Well… There was a small chance that it was also the fire… Yeah, it was definitely the fire.  
“Keith-” Coran stood up, brushing himself off and attempting to calm the situation. But Slav was already out the door, screeching about the house burning down.

And, moments later, a flaming beam from the room Zethrid and Keith had just been planning in crashed to the floor. 

The house was ablaze, and they all just barely got out. Luckily for the house and unluckily for the group, it was pouring rain outside. 

The flame from Keith had long since gone out, but you could still smell smoke around him. Small trails of steam left Keith’s shoulder from the rain, a sign his body was still hot. The Korean could sense everyone's fear, most of it directed towards him (Keith thought that, anyways). 

After a few minutes of them staring at the burning house in surprise, the glances they had been casting at Keith ceased. He took this moment to slip away, his footsteps quiet as he took off upstream. Maybe if he brings back supplies he could help the group from afar, kind of like a loner? Keith knew abandoning his team would be horrible, but he didn’t want to cause a distruption like that again.

What had even happened to him? Why did he catch on _fire?_

Keith’s mind raced so fast that he didn’t even notice the darkly dressed figures running up behind him. 

In seconds he was on the ground, face pressed into wet soil and grass, knee’s from one of the figures digging in between his shoulder blades. Keith struggled, trying to reach back and knock the person off balance, but his attacker was significantly heavier and stronger than he was. 

“Who are you?” Keith tried to sound threatening, poised to make an escape the moment he felt the larger person lapse. “Let me go.” He growled, turning his head to the side to catch a glimpse of the character and glare at them.

It was a tall figure in a hood, face covered by a mask. The robes were black and purple, looking very futuristic, in Keith’s opinion. There was no way Keith was getting out of this one. A rough, foreign sounding voice began to reply.

“Part of the Blade of-”

The pressure suddenly lifted, and Keith sprang up, whipping around and administering a quick punch towards the figure. The soft hiss of the attacker fell silent as they fell to the ground, unmoving.

Confused, Keith looked up. Zethrid was standing above the body, looking at Keith. “Keith.” She nodded, then turned back the way Keith had came, the way she had came, the way towards the others. 

With a defeated sigh, Keith knew he had to follow. Being alone out here was too dangerous, too vulnerable. 

Together, they head downstream. 

X X X 

Rover welcomed Keith with an unreciprocated hug, then bounced off to play with Pidge. Pidge smiled at Rover and ruffled his hair. They led Rover off towards the woods to play while the adults talked. A small, forgiving smile was cast towards Keith from them. 

A little relaxed, Keith turned to face Coran, Slav, and Zethrid. “We need to go downstream.” He said, and took a breath. “Something attacked me upstream. We can only assume more of those rogues… the Blade, he called them, is dangerous.”

Slav leaned in. “There was a 16% chance that you didn’t survive that encounter and a 4% chance he killed Zethrid!” His voice was chirpy and kind of irritating, but Keith nodded. 

“Thanks, Slav.” 

X X X 

Pidge lead Rover off downstream, the two of them talking about dogs. 

“I love dogs!” Rover grinned up at Pidge, earning a small laugh in response. 

“Yeah, they’re pretty great, huh?” The dirty-blonde hummed. Their hands deftly picked a flower and showed it to Rover. “Look! These are called buttercups.” Pidge placed it in Rovers palm. “We used to have them where I lived-” Pidge frowned. “If I could remember where that was…” Pidge, while being amazingly intelligent, was no exception to the loss of memory they all shared. Rover had it the worst, not even knowing how old he was. But because Pidge was the next youngest, the small boy clicked with the Italian quickly. 

“Wow!” Rover smiled, gently admiring the soft-colored flower. “It reminds me of you!” He teased his friend, giggling.

“Oh hush.” Pidge nudged him, then yelped. “Oh my god! A pear tree-” The thin teen hurried forwards, staring up. “I haven’t seen a pear in so long-” They reached up and grabbed a pear, holding it in front of themself. “Rover! Come here!” Pidge beckoned, starting to walk around the tree. 

The child walked at Pidges side, staring up at the fruits in awe. “I’ve never seen a pear ever. What do they taste like?” He glanced at Pidge, who had juice running down their face from the fruit they had already devoured. 

“Here!” Pidge tugged Rover behind them, reaching up into the tree. Their weight shifted, one foot stepping a little to the right. Then a snapping sound. 

Pidge and Rover were caught up, pulled 10 feet into the air by a rope trap.

Rover’s mouth opened to scream, but Pidge slammed a hand over it. They raised their hand in a ‘shh’ motion, pressing their index finger against their lips. “The person who set the trap might be near-” Pidge warned, not wanting to alert the hunter that their trap had been set off. They had to figure a way out before someone attacked them. Pidge shuddered at the thought, “We can’t die yet.” They said desperately, letting Rover hold their hand. 

The soft patter of the rain was beginning to die out, and Pidge picked up on the sound of footsteps in the mud. 

Pidge wrapped their arms protectively around Rover, staring towards the noise in worry. 

A thin, brown person stepped out from the trees and looked at the net in surprise. “Oh!” He hurried forwards, starting up. He was wearing a silver suit with blue markings, something Pidge didn’t correlate with their own outfit until a few moments later. In defense, Pidge hissed at him.

“He-” The boy paused and let out a laugh. “I thought I caught a person but it’s just a gremlin!” He flashed a grin towards the two in the net, then noticed Rover. “Oh my God, there’s a kid-” His teasing look faded and he stepped forwards. “I’m so sorry-” He began to look for where he had tied them up. “I’ll get you down in a second! I swear-” Suddenly he was knocked off his feet by a flash of silver and black.

“Back off-” A voice growled deeply, shoving the tan male into the mud. “Leave my friends alone.” 

“Keith!” Pidge called, “He was helping us down! Let him go!” Pidge began to realize, _hey, here’s another human who is dressed just like us._ “He might know something!”

The tan struggled under Keith, “Man, I always expected to be the top.” A small snort left his mouth.

Keith growled again and stood up, helping the lanky man to his feet. “Who are you-” He surveyed the person in front of him.  
The silver and blue suit complimented the teenagers warm, tan skin. His messy dark brown hair curled into his cheeks, making him look a little younger than he probably was. (Which Keith assumed was around his age, 18). 

A large grin spread across his face, his blue eyes shining. 

“My name is Lance.”

**Author's Note:**

> Lotor will be in Chapter twooooo


End file.
